Day 10 "Stealth"

I have never noticed my foot steps, often times I walk in the woods in my "normal walk" not really paying special attention to the carefulness of each step. This morning opened with a story about stealth. They logo for Wilderness Awareness school is the red fox "gazing at you with soft eyes- unalarmed, unconcerned, simply aware of your presence". Native people tell their children that they should walk as if they were walking on the face of their most revered elder. As I walked into Centennial woods this afternoon I paid especial attention to the way I was moving. Whenever I found myself walking too fast or too loudly, I made sure to stop, pause, look around and continue back to my "fox walk". Today as a paid special attention to my footing I found my self looking to the ground even more! Looking to the ground makes you unaware of your surroundings, I was so set on finding a set of tracks and trying to identify them that I was only looking to the ground. I tried to picture myself as animals would see me and still felt I was not walking stealthily enough, that was until I noticed a runners footsteps. Comparing the sounds of his foot steps to mine, I really was walking a lot more quietly. Although I think this is a skill I will need to keep practicing, I think I will only improve. Whenever I heard my trigger today, it reminded me to keep my mind from wandering, to slow my foot steps and to really pause and look around. Its amazing what you notice when you really let yourself fully relax, and be present in the moment, taking all of your thoughts and letting them drift away with the breeze.

When did you choose to be consciously decide to be stealthy today?

I was reminded by the chickadees how loud my footsteps actually were..hearing their calls that I was walking throughout the woods really made my aware of each stick snapping, leaf crunching and puddle splashing made be my feet.

Did the effort to be stealthy make you feel like predator or prey?

I definitely felt more like a predator. I tried to picture myself as a red fox walking through these woods, hungry from a long winter. Walking slower, made me more aware of the things around me.